15/365

it’s late afternoon and the sky has turned pink. you and your brother are restless so we take a walk down the hill our house is perched atop. at the bottom there is an open field with rolling hills. you love to explore the field and run wildly through the hills. when we get there we are met by two older boys doing tricks on dirt bikes–tricks that fascinate you–tricks that seem to make you anxious. we watch for a while before it is time to head home. as we stroll back up the hill, i notice that you’re quite. needing to break the silence and figure out what’s going on in your head, i ask you if you would like to try riding a dirt bike. you say you’d rather stay with pogo stick jumping. relief washes over your face and you turn away, trying to hide it. trying not to show me that the boys doing tricks made you nervous. “pogo stick jumping is way cooler!” i say. you smile at me and skip the rest of the way home.